Wal-Mart expands online in China

Article Excerpt

WAL-MART STORES INC. $80 (New York symbol WMT; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 3.1 billion; Market cap: $248.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.walmart.com) formed an alliance in 2016 with Chinese online retailer JD.com (Nasdaq symbol JD). Under the terms of the deal, JD.com acquired Yihaodian—Wal- Mart’s shopping website in China. In exchange, Wal-Mart received a 5% stake in JD.com. It has since increased that stake to 12%. The two firms recently agreed to strengthen their alliance. That includes better integrating their warehouses and inventory systems in China. That will speed up deliveries. As well, JD.com plans to open specialized shops inside certain Wal-Mart stores that sell home electronic products. JD.com customers will also be able to pick up their online orders at more Wal-Mart stores. Wal-Mart is a buy. buy…